As fate has it
by kohlbits
Summary: Madison and Ephram, as fate has it, are back together and as happy as ever, especially together.
1. a little reunion

Madison and Ephram were roaming around the mall during lunch time one day, catching up on how things have been since they last saw each other. Not many people were there since it was early afternoon, just mainly the elderly people were there. The two were wasting a little time before heading over to the food court where they told a friend of theirs they would meet her there. "We should go bowling tonight! Boys vs. girls, lets call up Bright and we'll meet at the bowling alley!" Madison said happily as she pushed the wheelchair Ephram was in. He shifted his body so he could look up at Madison, "you do realize that when it's boys vs. girls, it's two guys and three girls and we always lose!"

Madison chuckled, "you've beaten us once."

"yes, Madison, bring that up again why don't you." replied Ephram sarcastically, "we only won because Kay decided to throw a fit and stop bowling all together. But you know what, we'll take a win any way we can get it." he laughed, "Bright isnt even that good, neither is Kya, which sort of makes it one guy...me, vs. two girls...and I'm not even that good!"  
"Kya's not too bad...Well, okay, she is pretty bad." chuckled Madison, "she and Bright both need bumpers when they bowl."

The two decided to make their way to the food court where they told Kya they would meet her. When they got to the table, Ephram smiled, "I'll call up Bright and have him meet us at the bowling alley." he dialed Bright's number, and Bright answered, "hello?"

"Hey Bright, it's Ephram. You should meet us at the bowling alley tonight! Madison is visiting and wants us to all hang out."  
"Let me guess, boys vs. girls! Dude, we're going to get our asses handed to us like always, you do realize that, yes?" he replied, "but, can you really do that? I mean, bowl while in the wheelchair?"  
Raising his voice, Ephram replied, "You've been out with us before, Bright! You know I can! Even in the wheelchair! I'm handicapped, Bright, not completely immobile." he chuckled, which made the other two laugh as well, "We've won a game before, you remember that right? Nevermind" he said as he thought for a moment, "dont try to think about it, you might hurt yourself."  
"Sure, bro, I'll see you guys there!" and the two hung up.

"Cool, Bright's in, he'll meet us there." Ephram told the other two before he took a bite out of his turkey and cheese sandwich, "I think all that football in high school messed with his head, he's quite forgetful lately." and he laughed at the thought. 

Ephram moved into his own apartment last year to be closer to school with three other guys. Because of their schedules though, they hardly ever saw each other. He lives about 40 minutes away from Bright in one direction and 40 minutes from Madison in the other.  
Madison said, "I cant wait, we havent done much of anything for a while so this should be tons of fun. Hey, Troy might stop by, which would be great because then I will be able to finally introduce the two of you!"

"That'd be cool, I've heard a lot about him, it'd be cool to finally meet him," replied Ephram, "Kay'll come, but I think it will be mainly to argue with me like she normally does. It's all we've been doing for the past month." He looked over at his friend Kya, who looked back at him with sad eyes, "how long did it take you and Madison to become friends again?"


	2. you and I

"Oh Kya" replied Madison, trying to comfort her, "dont think about that right now, you and your boyfriend just broke up. It takes time, it took Ephram and I over a year to become friends" she looked at Ephram and half smiled.

Ephram winked at her then playfully said, "yeah, but it's not like I really had a choice in that matter, I was stuck in a hospital bed for two months! She was persistent!"

~~FLASHBACK~~

The accident happened three days after high school graduation; Ephram had been in the hospital bed for a week now. It had been over a year since he and Madison broke up, so when she showed up by his side, it was very hard for him to see her, and to have her see him in the condition he was in made it worse. She visited every week, each time getting easier for the both of them. Then one day, Ephram broke down and couldnt help but cry, "I feel so helpless! I'm paralyzed from the waist down, I barely have the use of my hands, I can barely hold a pen, much less play the piano!" he cried angry tears, "there is no reason for me to be here anymore!"

"I'm not leaving you, I'm staying whether you want me to or not. I'm here for you, Ephram. But you cant give up, I wont let you" she said sternly as she squeezed his hand.

"I've missed you so much" he said as tears continued filling his eyes, "you're such a great friend Madison, and having you here means so much to me."

After about two months, Ephram was able to get out of the hospital. Madison continued to visit every once and a while and sometimes took him to physical therapy. He realized that having Madison in his life meant the world to him, he treasured their friendship and was glad she was in his life. A couple months later, Ephram regained full use of his hands and was able to play the piano again. Several months after that, he could feel part of his legs, and the doctors said he was now only paralyzed from the knee down. That was over two years ago now, and he has become quite independent. He got his own apartment with three other guys and got a car customized just for him where the brake and accelerator are on the steering wheel.

~~END FLASHBACK~~ 

Around 7pm, they all met Bright at the bowling alley, three girls vs. two boys. Just like Ephram had predicted, Kay was there only to argue with Ephram. She was talking to Madison, "Ephram is so high maintainence sometimes."  
Madison chuckled, "This I know, but I'm sure you can manage, you've done so for about three or four months now."  
"Stop talking about me!" yelled Ephram as he made his way to the line. Just as he was about to roll the ball down the lane, Madison's boyfriend, Troy showed up, but was staying only a minute so she didnt have time to introduce him to Ephram, even though she wanted to. 

As Ephram wheeled himself back to the machine to take his second turn, Madison yelled, "Ephram, this is Troy!" but instead of smiling or being at all considerate, Troy nodded his head once to acknowledge Ephram, then turned towards Madison to give her a kiss before heading back to where he had come from. 

After Ephram's turn, it was Madison's turn to bowl. Everybody applauded and cheered when she got a strike and slapped her hand as she made her way to the table. Ephram slapped her hand as well, "you're going down, Madison! We'll come back, just you wait and see." They all bowled for a little while longer before they figured it was time to leave. As they were walking out of the building, Bright said, "Told you...As fate has it...we lost...again!" Everybody laughed.

Kay took Ephram home since she lived closer than Madison did. Madison gave Ephram a warm friendly hug before heading off to her place 40 minutes away.

(A/N; granted, these two chapters could have come together as one, but...well, I know what I was trying to, I just cant put into words...lol...Anyway, hope this fic meets your expectations! Thanks muchly for reading and reviewing!)


	3. hanging out

A few days later, Madison called up Ephram, "hey you, we should go out tonight, do a double date, what do you think?"  
"Well..." Ephram said as he made himself a turkey and cheese sandwich then wheeled himself into the living room.

"Shut up, you know you want to, it'll be fun!" Madison said happily into the phone.

"You know what, you're right, it would be fun. Let me talk to Kay about it and we'll meet you at our regular spot. Plus, it will give me another chance to meet Troy." The two talked for a little while longer before hanging up the phone. Not long after that, Kay walked in and kissed Ephram on the cheek, "hey baby, whats up"

"Madison wants to do a double date tonight, we should go, it'll be fun!" said Ephram happily as Kay sat on his lap.

She made a face, "let me guess, you already said you'd go. What choice do I have, Ephram if you already made the plans?"

"Kay, dont be that way. If you dont want to go then tell me."  
"You'll just pout like you always do if we dont go, so we might as well go."  
"You sure?" asked Ephram as Kay stood up to go sit on the couch. All she did was nod her head. Ephram replied, "cool, we'll meet them at our regular spot around 8pm."

Around 8pm, they all met each other at the restaurant, and Ephram wheeled himself to the edge of the table where Madison hugged him hello. Just then, a song came over the speakers that Ephram absolutely loved and he looked at Kay, "I love this song! Let's dance!" she looked at him strangely and shook her head no. He then looked at Madison, "Come on?" and Madison laughed, "Okay"

"Stealing your girlfriend for this one song!" laughed Ephram to Troy who didnt seem to mind. The two were twirling around, laughing and joking and having a great time until the song ended a couple minutes later. As Madison wheeled Ephram back to the table, Kay said, "dont you guys feel stupid? I mean, you were the only ones dancing!"

Ephram couldnt help but chuckle, "Do what feels right. I learned that philosophy after my accident. Who cares if people are looking at you and think you're crazy, as long as you are having fun, then keep it up!"

"Do it to it!" laughed Madison as she pointed her fork at him.

The first half hour went by smoothly, having a great time, and Ephram got to know a little about Troy. After a while, Troy started being a jerk, but his questions started off innocent enough, "So, how'd you end up in the wheelchair?"  
"Car accident" Ephram said simply, "hit by a drunk driver...originally paralyzed from the waist down, now just the knee down...Physical therapy every other day for two hours, it's a bitch." he chuckled.

"But you're getting somewhere" replied Kay nodding her head.

"You love it" replied Madison jokingly, "otherwise you wouldn't have any other reason to call me and update me on the progress you're making."

"You know it!" replied Ephram jokingly, "plus this sports wheelchair they got me in is rather cool. I can spin around and do all that other stuff. Better than a regular chair I think."

"So uh...How's the performance" replied Troy as he made a gesture with his first, moving it forward then backwards.

"Dont start!" Madison said as she gave him a disgusted look. Troy just smirked, then not too long afterwards said something else, which made Ephram look from Madison to Troy, "is he always a jerk? What's your deal?" he stayed calm.

Again, Troy asked, "so, Ephram, tell us about your past with Madison. You two go way back and we're just _dying_ to know."  
"You know what" Ephram said irritated as he backed away from the table, "the first half of the evening was good, but I think it's time to leave now." he leaned forward to give Madison a peck on the cheek, "I'll see you later." and he wheeled out of the restaurant with Kay following behind him. He was able to hear Madison and Troy arguing, but Troy not seeming to care.

As he and Kay were driving home, Ephram abruptly changed the radio channel when he heard the song '_I love the way you love me'_ by John Michael Montgomery. That song seemed to make him even more irritated.

"What'd he mean when he said you two go way back?" asked Kay curiously.

"Dropt it, Kay, just leave it alone." replied Ephram.

"Why wont you tell me?" she snapped.

"You know how you dont want to talk about your old relationships?" he asked harshly, "well that's how I feel about this, so just drop it already."

Ephram parked the car outside his apartment and Kay snapped, "Fine, whatever. I'll call you." and without saying anything else, got into her car and drove off.

~FLASHBACK~~

"We were never really friends, we were just--" Ephram said as he stood in front of Madison outside her front door.

She interrupted, "in love..." tears filled her eyes at this point, "maybe in a few weeks we could meet up and have one of those kick-off friend lunches..."  
"No...I dont think so...I dont think we could ever be just friends." replied Ephram, shaking his head, as he gritted his teeth to hold back the tears, "not in the near future anyway...you've changed my life Madison, more than you'll ever know-" his voice trailed off as he held his breath to keep from crying. He stepped forward and the two kissed one last time before he quickly walked to his car. When he opened the car door, he looked up to find Madison leaning against the door frame, waving goodbye, tears in her eyes. He threw himself into his car as tears escaped onto his face. He only got a few blocks before he had to pull over since he couldnt see anything through his tears.

The breakup was hard for the both of them, especially Ephram. It took them over a year to be able to be friends, and it was the accident that brought them together. It's been two years now and as long as Ephram doesnt think of the past, and suppresses his feelings, then things turn out well.

~END FLASHBACK~~

Ephram made his way into his apartment, Bright was sitting with one of Ephram's roommates, "What are you doing here, Bright? It's nearly 10pm." he said tiredly.

"Just wanted to see what you've been up to. How's the relationship goin?"

"Kay's pissed off at me..." he said as he wheeled himself into the kitchen. Bright followed and Ephram opened up the fridge and tossed him a can of soda.

"When is she not pissed at you?" he said catching the soda, "for the passed month it seems as if your relationship has been in shambles!" he chuckled.

"Shambles? Good word, Bright, but, do you know what it means?" asked Ephram, smiling at his friend.

"Not exactly" Bright said smiling, "But I've heard Amy use it in context of her homework, so I figured it could work when describing your relationship." they both laughed.

"We went on a double date with Madison and her boyfriend, and I guess you could say that he's the main reason she's pissed off at me." Ephram then changed the subject, "hey, I have physical therapy tomorrow, you should come with me."  
"Any hot chicks?" inquired Bright.

"Well...there is this one nurse who works with me every other week. She may be working this week."  
"I'm in!" replied Bright, "she better be hot!"

"Cool, the session starts at 10am, see you at 9:30am"

Bright stayed a little while longer than decided to head home and said that he'd see Ephram in the morning. Not too long after he left, Kay called, "I didnt want to call you tonight" she said heatedly.

"Then why did you?" asked Ephram preoccupied, "to give me a hard time and make me feel even worse than I already do? Why dont you break up with me now and get it over with?"

"Is that what you want?" she snapped.

"Kay, right now I dont care! Hold on--" he said as he put the phone down and took off his shirt to get ready for bed, "for the past month its seems all you've wanted to do is argue with me, maybe it's my fault, I dont know. But I'm tired of trying to work it out, I dont want to work it out for the millionth time." he sighed, "look, I'm going to let you go now and call you later before either of us say something we might regret." and with that, he hung up and climbed into bed.


	4. complicated

The next morning, Bright picked Ephram up around 9:30am and the two headed to his physical therapy session. Although Bright has gone with him before, he is always amazed at all the equipment, everything from high tech modern machines to other things that look as if they are over 100 years old. While Ephram was doing his exercises with his nurse, Judy, Bright was talking/flirting with another one of the nurses for a while before she had to get back to work. Not too long afterwards, Judy, an older looking nurse, had Ephram sit in a chair for a minute or so, so she could get some paperwork. While Ephram was sitting down, thumbing through a magazine, Bright was laying on the floor next to the chair. He stopped playing with the ball that he had and decided to play with Ephram's achille's tendens. First he pinched the right one, and of course, got the reaction he was looking for; nothing. Then he pinched the left tenden, and much to his suprise, Ephram said, "ow, Bright! Dont do that, that hurt."  
Bright sat up quickly, "what'd you just say?!"

"I said, dont, that—oh my god!! Oh my god!" Ephram became excited, which made Bright proceed to smack Ephram's knee with the little hard ball, which, out of reflex, his leg kicked up, "Bro!" cried Bright, "That's never happened before!"  
"Judy! Come here, come here!" yelled Ephram excitedly. Judy rushed over and put her clipboard down as Ephram said, "smack my right knee!"

She frowned at Ephram, "you know what will happen, Ephram...nothing"

"Please? Just do it?" he asked excitedly. With that, Judy smacked his right knee, but nothing happened. Ephram smiled, "now smack the left one..." She did just that, and to her surprise, the leg kicked up and she screamed with delight. She practically threw Ephram into his wheelchair and wheeled him to the examining room, yelling over her shoulder to Bright, "make yourself comfy, this will only take 20 minutes!"

20 minutes later, Ephram and Judy came back out, all the while Judy singing happily. "Just what I thought," she said, "Ephram now has full feeling in his left leg, and if my calculations are correct, the other leg should follow suit." She handed Ephram some leg braces, "these braces will help you sort of walk if you really want to. But I dont necessarily recommend it until after a couple more sessions when we switch from wheelchair to crutches. Once you get feeling in both legs then we'll give you the crutches, but there is no need to rush anything." she said happily.   
Their session ended and Bright wheeled himself happily out to Bright's car. Bright asked, "who are you going tell, we have to celebrate!"

"I want to tell everybody! My dad, Delia, Kay and Madison" he said, but then he thought about it for a second and changed his mind, "no, not everybody...I want to make it a surprise for Kay and Madison. The two will be excited, but I dont want to tell them until after I can walk completely."

As they got into the car and drove out of the parking lot, Bright asked, "I thought you and Kay broke up?"  
Ephram sighed, "it's complicated..." was all he could say.

A few days later, Madison was at the grocery store picking up a few things while talking on the phone to a friend of hers. While they were talking, Madison was smelling candles then abruptly stopped talking as memories from a certain scented candle came flooding back to her and she almost dropped the candle, but caught it and dropped her cell phone instead. She immediately put the scented candle back on the shelf and grabbed her phone from the floor and spoke into it, "sorry about that..." she said slowly, blinking repeatedly, "you know how...certain smells bring back memories..." she paused, "Let me call you back." and she hung up the phone as she tried to collect her thoughts. The memories that flooded her head were of the past...when she and Ephram were together. She tried to dismiss her thoughts as she made her way up to the cash register to pay for her things...Besides, they were just friends...right? As she got to her car, she couldnt help but think of Ephram. For the passed month, she's been thinking about him more. What did it all mean? Songs she hears, either random songs or ones that were once theirs, makes her think of him. It seems that, the harder she tries to ignore these signs, they hit her twice as hard the next time. These feelings...it cant be lust, she's known him too long...it cant be infatuation, they've dated before. All of a sudden she got a thought, I have to call him and talk to him...hear his voice. But...what if I tell him? Will I lose his friendship? Having him in her life has been wonderful, even if for the passed couple years they have just been friends. Should she take the next step? Then she thought, 'what's love if you cant take a risk...' and she smiled to herself as she drove home, realizing that she was going to have to call him and tell him...somehow...


	5. be with you

That day, Kay called Ephram, "hey...I thought about what you said and I think it would be best if we broke up. You're high maintainence, Ephram, and I can't handle it."  
"What are you talking about, high maintainence!?" he snapped. This conversation was starting to irritate him.

"Can we still be friends?" she asked

"I dont know, Kay! If we can be friends without you trying to jump down my throat every 10 seconds then yes, we can, but...." he exhaled, "I dont know...we'll see." and with that, the two hung up and Ephram was more irritated than before the conversation had started. He started doing a few of the exercises Judy had given him to do to pass some time and to try to ease his irritation. In the middle of his routine, Madison called him, "hey you..." she said.

"Hey, whats up!" he replied. After a few seconds of silence, still irritated from the earlier phone call, he said, "Madison! You called _me_, what do you want!" he sort of chuckled to himself before she answered.

"I want to tell you something, Ephram...but..." she paused, "I'm afraid of what it might mean if I do."  
Concerned, Ephram replied, "what is it, Madison? You can tell me anything, you know that!"

"I'm afraid that...if I bring it up then I'll open up a can of worms...I think I need to talk to you face to face..."  
"Well, what are you doing tomorrow?" Ephram asked obliviously, "come over tomorrow and we can talk then?" Madison didnt seem to be much of a talker tonight so Ephram said, "Well, I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow." and the two hung up before Ephram went back to doing his exercises.

Madison couldnt believe she was going to go through with this. She realized she still loved him and that she didnt want to be just friends any longer, but she was afraid of how he would take the news.

The next day, Madison made her way over to Ephram's place, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of his door, knocking softly. All of a sudden she got cold feet and tried to turn the other way and walk away, but it was too late, Ephram answered the door. He jokingly said, as he saw her sort of move away, "leaving already? Get yourself in here and tell me what you couldnt over the phone!" The two gave each other a warm friendly hug before heading into the living room. Madison had a CD in her hand and so she sat on the couch beside the nightstand with the stereo on it. Ephram set the brake on his wheelchair and climbed into the chair and faced Madison. She took a deep breath as she put the CD into the stereo, "when you hear this song, tell me what it brings to mind..." and with that, she pushed play. It was the Goonies theme song which made Ephram start laughing, "Madison! I'm not getting anything, should I be?"

"Wrong one" she said as she quickly changed the number on the CD. "now, tell me what comes to mind" and she pressed the play button again; 

_I like the feel of your name on my lips_

_I like the sound of your sweet gentle kiss_

_the way that your fingers run through my hair_

_and how your scent lingers even when you're not there_

She definitely got a reaction. Ephram's smile quickly disappeared and he threw himself backwards into the chair with a panic-stricken expression, "what the hell is this, Madison!?!" he freaked out and grabbed his chest, it felt as if his heart was breaking, "Are you _trying_ to break my heart again?!" tears quickly filled his eyes, "You know what memories this song brings to mind, what are you thinking?!"

_I love the way you love me_

_strong and wild, slow and easy_

_heart and soul, so completely _

_I love the way you love me_

Madison moved forward in her seat, "talk to me calmly, Ephram, please."

Ephram's voice quivered as he spoke quickly and angrily, "talk calmly?! Madison, what are you on?! You know how people have songs they cant listen to without crying?! Well this is one of them and I cant listen to it without _freaking_ out! Why are you doing this?! To see that you still have my heart and then break it again?! You do, okay, is that what you want to hear, that you still have my heart?!"

Tears formed in Madison's eyes now, "What's love if you cant take a risk..."  
"What are you talking about!" shouted Ephram as he sat up and looked at Madison angrily, trying to fight back the tears, not sure how to take any of this.

"For the passed month, Eph...I havent been able to stop thinking about you, about us, and how we used to be. It's like, the harder I try to ignore those feelings, the harder they come back and I just cant fight it anymore. I want to be with you Ephram..."

Ephram threw himself backwards again, this time covering his eyes with his hand, saying nothing, just thinking. There was a long awkward silence, and after a while, Madison said softly, "Ephram...talk to me...this is getting awkward..." Still nothing. Then Ephram said calmly, his eyes still covered, "are you still with Troy?"

"yes..." she said, knowing that, that wasnt the best answer.

Ephram looked at Madison angrily, "how you can come to me and tell me you want to be with me if you're still with Troy!? How does that work, Madison?!" He exhaled deeply to try to calm himself down. After another minute, Ephram said, "Are you serious? You really want to be with me? What makes you think we can work this time?" Ephram asked softly as he shifted himself in the chair.

"...I dont..." replied Madison simply. Ephram made his way over to the coffee table and sat in front of Madison. She couldnt help but lean forward and embrace him in a hug, half expecting him to pull away. Instead, he hugged her back and buried his face into her neck, not wanting to let go, not ever wanting to let her go again. The two talked for a little while longer before Madison decided to leave. It was unsaid, but the two knew that they would be together soon. Let's face it, as fate has it, they were always meant to be together even if they had to spend time apart. Ephram wanted to be with her, and Madison wanted to be with him and they knew that only time would tell. Everything is different now. Ephram climbed back into his wheelchair and he and Madison made their way to the front door, gave each other a warm hug before she left. She knew that she would be calling Troy later that day.


	6. disappointment

The next morning, before Ephram's physical therapy session, he had a slight ache in his calf. At first he thought nothing of it but then realized that he could now feel both legs! He was so excited he accidentally fell out of bed, yelling happily. His roommate, Kyle, came running into Ephram's room to see him on the floor, all Ephram could say as he smiled wide, "I can feel my legs! Both of them! From the knee down!" He couldnt yet walk on his own though since his legs were too weak. Kyle helped Ephram into his wheelchair as Bright was let in the apartment by another one of Ephram's roommates. For the next 20 minutes before Ephram had to leave for his appointment, they all celebrated and called up friends and family they knew.

Afterwards, Ephram went to his therapy session with Bright just as happy as ever. As soon as he could, he told Judy that he could feel both of his legs. She was quite delighted and tossed her clipboard aside. "Lets go to work!" she screamed happily as she wheeled Ephram over to where two waist-high bars were. Ephram knew what this was, it was to help him learn to walk on his own again, but he never thought he'd get this far. Judy noticed Ephram was looking at the bars, but she told him, "not yet, honey. We have to do some more exercises. Maybe before the end of your session today we can take a crack at that, okay."

About a half hour before the session was over, Judy wheeled Ephram back over to the bars and put the brake in place so he wouldnt wheel away. Judy stood in front of him and helped him stand up. She had Bright stand behind him with the wheelchair, this way Ephram wouldnt be able to fall or collapse, or, if he did then he'd fall into the chair. "Now, standing might be difficult after a few minutes and you'll want to sit down since you wont be used to it." she backed up and had Ephram hold the bars as he stood there. She smiled widely, "if you think you can, take a step forward"

Bright whispered, "you can do it, bro!"

Ephram took a deep breath and gripped the bars then slowly took a step forward. As he felt the process, he couldnt help but laugh out loud, "I'm doing it! I'm walking! Judy! Bright! Oh my god!" and he took another small step with his other foot.

Judy called to one of the other nurses, "get us the crutches, the ones that attach to the forearms!" Then she looked at Ephram who looked so determined to learn to walk again. She said, "For now, we're still going to let you have the wheelchair, but we'll give you the forearm crutches in case you feel the need to want to walk on your own."

The session ended and Bright and Ephram made their way happily back to his apartment. Bright said, "we're having a party tomorrow night, bro, you should bring some people! That'd be the perfect place to show off your skills! Laynie would love to see you, since I think she's the only person who actually stayed around after high school. Everybody else went out of state!"

"You know what..." Ephram said biting his bottom lip and looking at the window happily, "that sounds good...Are you guys having it at the dorms like last time?"

"nope. We're having it at the Frat house! Its cool, since it's only 20 minutes from your place and you dont have class tomorrow!"  
The two talked about the party a little while longer before they got to Ephram's apartment. Bright couldnt stay long but before he left he gave Ephram directions to the house. Later that day, Ephram called Madison to see if she would like to go to the party with him, but, she wasnt home so he left a message, "Madison, Bright is having a party tomorrow night and...I was wondering if you'd like to go with me...I want to see you...Well, if you dont give me a call before then, then I'll call you back and leave directions on the machine. I hope you come...bye"

Around 6:30pm the next day, still no call from Madison, but Kay stopped by to get some things that she had left at Ephram's place. His roommates were having a little get together with some of their friends, so the apartment was filled with music and people. He was too busy doing something else to pay much attention to her. But they did chitchat for a little while. Several minutes later, Kyle answered the door, it was Madison, and he told her that Ephram was in the other room. She went to find him.

"You know," Kay said to Ephram as she finished packing up the rest of her stuff, "I like Madison and..."  
Ephram stopped what he was doing and listened to Kay, "I hope it works out for the two of you..."  
He nodded, "thanks, Kay...me too, ya know..." and Kay leaned down to give him a hug and a small goodbye kiss. Just as she kissed him, a familiar voice was in the background, "Hey Ephram, where are you," then Madison appeared in the doorway and saw the two kissing, "oh, I'm sorry..." and she walked quickly away.

"Oh no! Wait!" cried Ephram as he high tailed it after her as fast as his wheelchair could go. He caught up to her in the hallway of the apartment building before she could get all the way down the stairs, Ephram said, "Madison stop! Dont make me throw myself down these stairs after you because I will do it!"

She stopped and half turned to look at Ephram, "Eph..." she said in a sort of disappointed sort of tone.

(A/N: sup folks, thanks for the reviews, much appreciated as always! Sorry for the lack of updates for "living the life", but things have been hectic with school and everything, but no worries, I will get a new chapter out shortly. In the mean time, I will still be working on this one...YEA!)


	7. surprise

Ephram said, "Madison stop! Dont make me throw myself down these stairs after you because I will do it!"

She stopped and half turned to look at Ephram, "Eph..." she said in a sort of disappointed sort of tone.

~~~

"Kay and I are over! I want to be with _you_, Madison, I've always wanted to be with you...I want us to work out so much that it hurts!" There was a pause as Madison took one step closer towards Ephram, who continued with pleading eyes and a sort of panic expression on his face as if he was about to lose his best friend, "Having you in my life, Madison, means more to me than you'll probably ever know. Dont walk away, I cant lose you, not again, I dont think I could go through that again." At this point Madison was standing only a few steps away from him as he kept talking, "You are my life, and..." he sighed and, with pleading eyes as he continued, "and I just love you so much. I love you, I'm in love with you and never fell out of love with you--" Madison interrupted him with a passionate kiss. When she broke away, Ephram's eyes were still closed and he said something which made Madison chuckle. She then touched his face, "I still love you too" and kissed him again.

The two didnt want to go to the party now, but since they had no where else to go since it seemed that practically everybody else and their brother were having a party, they figured they would just drop in and make an appearance before going off by themselves. Plus, Bright had the forearm crutches and said that he wanted to be present when Ephram showed everybody he could walk again.

They got to the party and met up with Bright and Laynie. A few minutes later, Bright stole Ephram away and told the girls that they would be right back. They went into the other room and Bright helped Ephram stand up and fit the forearm crutches to his arms. Neither of them could help but smile, then Bright said, "I'm gonna walk out first with your wheelchair, then a few seconds after that, you come out okay!? Oh my god, this is gonna be awesome!" he was excited, "good luck, bro!" he said as he made his way out to where everybody else was. He strolled out with the empty wheelchair and Laynie and Madison looked at him strangely. Laynie said, "where'd ya hide the body?"

Just then, Ephram walked into view with the crutches, slyly smiling.

Bright said happily, "he's officially been able to walk for two whole days now! What, Ephram, you started getting feeling in your legs last week?"

"I just saw you the other day!" cried Madison, "why didnt you tell me!"

He tilted his head as he walked closer to her, "I wanted to surprise you..."

The two stayed a little while longer then headed back to his place. His roommates were still having their little get together as they walked in so they headed to his bedroom where it was less noisy. "How long will you be on the crutches?" asked Madison as she sat on the bed.

"I dont know...I didnt ask" replied Ephram as he took the crutches off his arms and set them aside as he sat next to Madison. She then asked, "what types of new exercises will Judy put you on?"

Smiling, Ephram replied, "I dont know...I didnt ask. Looks like you'll just have to come along to my next session so you can ask her for me." Then he bumped her with his shoulder, "Just so you know, I wanted to surprise you even before we had that talk." The two looked at each other longingly, then Ephram whispered as he touched her face, "Would you object if...I kissed you right now?"

The two leaned in for a slow, deep passionate kiss. Ephram couldnt help but wrap his arms around Madison and hold her, something he's wanted to do for as long as he could remember, ever since that day when he saw her leaning against the doorway of her house three years ago when they said goodbye. They lay on the bed wrapped in each other's arms, just talking, for the rest of the night. This felt right and nothing could change it.

The next day was a Saturday and since both of them had nothing important to do they decided to stay in each other's arms for the majority of the morning. Ephram couldnt help but prop himself up on his elbow and look at Madison who was slightly smiling. "You know what" Ephram said as he tilted his head, "I think that accident two years ago was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me..."  
"why do you say that?" asked Madison curiously.

Ephram shrugged his shoulders, "The accident is what brought you back into my life..." he paused and thought for a second, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I dont think I'd be where I am today if it werent for you. You inspire me." He winked at her, "I think it's fate..."

"I think you proved yourself wrong when you said that you didnt think we could ever be friends. But, if you want to give the accident credit, by all means go for it." she winked, and the two looked at each other longingly before she sighed as if she just remembered something and covered her face with her hands. She was saying something but it was muffled and incoherent, Ephram took her hands away and chuckled, "what are you saying?"

Madison swallowed hard and looked at Ephram with a serious look upon her face. She closed her eyes, "...I'm...still with Troy..."


	8. I lied

she sighed as if she just remembered something and covered her face with her hands. She was saying something but it was muffled and incoherent, Ephram took her hands away and chuckled, "what are you saying?"

Madison swallowed hard and looked at Ephram with a serious look upon her face. She closed her eyes, "...I'm...still with Troy..."

Ephram threw his hand over his mouth and raised his eyebrows out of shock, "what the hell? So what was last night? Why'd you kiss me?" asked Ephram in a sort of shock.

"It's how you make me feel, Ephram...Whenever I'm with you I forget about everything else, nothing else matters and when you told me that you still love me then I went with my gut reaction." She shook her head, "last night was fun and I was happy and nothing else mattered. I havent felt that way for a long time, Ephram. Just being with you makes me happy."

All Ephram could say was, "what about Troy?"

Madison sat on the edge of the bed and just shook her head, "what about him? As far as I'm concerned we're over..." she said softly.

Ephram sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear as she leaned against him, "I hate it when you're upset..." he put his chin on her shoulder, "we'll get through this...together..."

A couple hours later Madison decided to head to Troy's to break the news to him. She and Ephram wanted to be together more than anything so she didnt want to delay it any longer. Ephram walked Madison to her car, she kissed him on the cheek, "see you tomorrow?"  
Ephram only nodded and half smiled, "I have a lot of stuff to do anyway. Errands...homework, ya know, just little things to do."  
"Ephram," Madison said as she tilted her head, "are you okay?"

"Yeah" he said winking at her.

The two went their separate ways and as Ephram was running his errands for the day, he realized he wasnt okay. Being with Madison, that's what he really wanted and he couldnt pretend he was alright with not being with her. After running the errands and running all over town to do the little things, he decided to blow off his homework and head to Madison's place 40 minutes away, tell her, again, how he felt. The sky turned gray and it started raining heavily as he got to her house, but she wasnt there yet so he decided to sit on the porch swing. 

About 20 minutes later, Madison pulled up into the driveway and saw Ephram's car. Still raining heavily, she made her way to the porch and saw him sitting there and she asked slowly as he looked up, "what are you...?" and she stopped in her tracks, standing in the rain. Ephram stood up, "I lied..."

She looked at him curiously, "Ephram?"  
His eyes glistened with tears, "I lied, Madison...I'm not okay, not without you, I'm not okay." he took a few steps towards her, now feeling the heavy raindrops on his head, as she was getting drenched from the rain as well. She grabbed him and embraced him in a hug, whispering, "I love you, Ephram...so much...Troy and I are over..."

Ephram couldnt help but drop his crutches and wrap his arms around her and just hold her, not caring that they were now soaked to the bone from the rain and that passersby were looking at them rather strangely as they stood there in the pouring rain.

After a while Ephram looked at Madison, "Is it safe to kiss you?"

"More than you'll ever know" she replied with a smile. The two leaned in for a slow, deep passionate kiss. Ephram slipped his tongue into her mouth as she let out a slight moan of satisfaction. 

To interrupt a romantic kiss, Ephram's legs gave out and he fell to the ground. Madison dropped beside him as she tried not to laugh. He was rubbing his legs when she asked, "are you okay?"

Ephram chuckled, "yeah, my legs aren't used to standing on their own without support. They're just weak, that's all." and then he had the urge to kiss her again and placed his hand on the back of her neck and kissed her deeply once again, pulling her on top of him as he lay on the ground. Madison couldnt help but laugh, it was such a wonderful moment and kissing Ephram in the rain made it that much more perfect.

Suddenly there was a crack of thunder which seemed to shake the ground and a flash of lightning that lit up the dark gray sky. Ephram rememberd his metal crutches laying beside him and, laughing nervously, said, "I think we should get inside now."

Madison pulled Ephram up and gave him his crutches.

"I dont need them" he said before he climbed up the stairs. Just then his left leg gave out as he started up the stairs and he grabbed the post going up the stairs to stop him from falling. He laughed, "Maybe I do." and Madison helped him fit the crutches to his forearms. When they got into the house, Madison lead Ephram to her bedroom where she figured they would change out of their wet clothes. She dug through her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans then tossed them to Ephram. Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he couldnt help but look from her then to the jeans, "You've had my favorite pair of jeans all this time?!" he shook his head, trying not to smile, "I dont even want to know what you have been doing with them for the three years!"

She picked a couple articles of clothing from her closet then left the room to get dressed in another room. When she came back she tossed Ephram a towel to dry off. He had already changed into the dry pants but had no shirt. Madison couldnt help but gently touch his chest and trace his upperbody with her fingers, making him shiver, as she planted small kisses all over his face. The two made their way into the living room and lay on the couch, talking and joking and cuddling. 

(A/N; Well its about time, I should be getting a new chapter out for Living the Life shortly and I think you'll enjoy it. I had fun writing it and hopefully it shows. Thanks for the support everybody, it means so much!)


	9. reservations

A couple days later, Ephram and Madison met for lunch at the restaurant they normally go to. "What are you doing this weekend?" he asked as he held her hand on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at her.

Slightly smiling, she said, "spending time with you I hope."

Ephram looked down at the table and blushed before going on, "I'm going home this weekend and...um, I was wondering if, uh, you would like to go, uh, come with me."

Trying to hide her smile as she leaned forward, she replied, half amused, half hesitant, "would we have to see your dad?" then pursed her lips.

Making a face, Ephram nodded his head.

"You do remember the time he yelled at us when you tried to hire me back as Delia's babysitter...or the time when I came to visit you at the hospital, he almost blew a gasket, Ephram. I'm probably his least favorite person, one of the very least he'd like to see anyway." she sighed, "I understand that he's protective, but..." she paused to think of what to say next, but Ephram interrupted, trying to sound upbeat, "that was a few years ago, I'm sure he's over it. Plus, I dont care what he thinks, Madison. I love you, and I wont let him yell at you again." he chuckled, "at least I'll be awake if he does this time."

He could still see the reservations in her eyes and said as he squeezed his hand, "it'll be alright, I promise...And yes, Delia would love to see you, I told her that I would probably bring one of her favorite people home."

Madison nodded, "I'll go home with you." and she took his hand and squeezed it as she touched it to her forehead. She was thinking that maybe the weekend would be, mostly, full of stress and frustration.

The next day around noon the two headed to Everwood in Madison's vehicle. Ephram had called Bright to let him know that he and Madison would be visiting Everwood for the weekend and that he should clear his schedule in case things at home blew up. Madison was definitely a sore spot when it came to Andy Brown, besides, she did break his son's heart once before and it didnt go over well with him. On the way to Everwood, Madison and Ephram were singing to the radio at the top of their lungs, having the best drive over. 

Ephram chuckled, "maybe if we just surprise my dad with me walking with crutches then he'll forget to yell at us."

"worth a shot" Madison replied amused.

When They got about 10 minutes outside of Everwood, Ephram called the house and Delia answered. She was happy to find out that Madison was coming over and that the two had finally gotten back together. Then she became concerned, "you do know that...um..."  
"Delia, what?" asked Ephram curiously.

"Grampa and Nonny are here..."

The color drained in Ephram's face and he was speechless as he absent-mindedly threw his free hand over his eyes and exhaled heavily, "noooo" he muttered. "thanks Delia" he said softly, "if you can..." he sighed, "let them know whats up..." and with that, they hung up and Ephram couldnt help but cover his face as he said to Madison, "my dad's not the only person you have to worry about...." he swallowed hard, "Madison, if you want to turn around now I understand completely!"  
"Ephram, what is it?"

"...Grandparents" he breathed, "now, I understand if you want to turn around, I wont stop you. I mean, I'm scared of my grandmother, everybody is...and the one encounter you had with her while I was in the hospital..." he began to panic.

"Ephram, it's going to be okay..." she said, trying to sound convincing.

~Flashback~~  
"How dare you come here, what do you think your presence will do to him?" Nonny said heatedly as she saw Madison for the first time standing outside of Ephram's hospital room, "who do you think you are, young lady? You broke his heart and now you think you can just waltz in here like nothing happened?"  
Madison was speechless, she had never been verbally attacked like this and it hurt. All she really knew of Nonny was that she was completely against her grandson's relationship with this older woman and that she was a very stubborn woman. Delia saved her from being yelled at any longer, "thats enough!" then took Madison aside and hinted to her that her grandparents were leaving in a few days so if she wanted to then she could see her brother then.. Andy came up and softly spoke to Madison, "I dont know what your intentions are, Madison, and I will tell you right now that I'm not happy with seeing you here. I'm not saying you cant be here, I'm just saying I dont want to see Ephram upset again because of you."  
Madison made her way into Ephram's room and couldnt help but tear up. It was then that she realized that having him in her life was all she ever wanted, even if they were just friends. Weeks went by before they could actually be friends without things being so awkward, but it was worth it even if the two were being ridiculed by family.

~END FLASHBACK~~

Just then, the two pulled into the driveway of the Brown household and Delia was standing on the porch happily waiting for them. As they were getting out of the car, Madison said softly to Ephram, "okay, I lied...it's not going to be okay, I feel as if I'm going to pass out..."

Ephram walked over to her and kissed her, letting her know it would be okay. The anticipation was killing the both of them. Delia was screaming with joy and hugged both of them as she jumped up and down. Then she calmed down, "The g-rents know Madison is here...Nonny wasnt too happy to hear that you two are back together, not only does the age different bother her, but I think its also that you broke up and now you're back together. She was angry and decided to lock herself in the bathroom..."

"Great!" sighed Ephram as he put his head on Madison's shoulder.

"Dad wants to talk to the both of you, though..."

"whhhyyy" Ephram exaggeratedly sighed under his breath. And with that, the three of them walked into the house.


	10. the test

Andy was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper when the kids stood in front of him, hesitantly. Andy looked over his paper at the two with a not-so-happy look upon his face. He slowly folded the paper and set it down on the table, but before he spoke, Ephram said, "Dad, I don't care what you think...I don't want to argue with you, but I don't care what you think. I know you may not agree with our relationship, but--"  
"Ephram, you're right" his father said sternly, "I don't agree with your relationship. I didn't the first time you two dated" his voice was getting louder, "and I don't now!" he calmed down, "but..."  
"But?" Ephram said shocked as he looked at Madison who was just as shocked.

"It's not my decision and no matter what I say it wont matter." and he ended it there as he got up to go into the kitchen. Just as he was about to turn and say something else, Nonny came into view and started yelling at anybody who would listen. Ephram whispered to Madison, "oh here we go..."

"You may not care what happens to your son, Andy! But I do!"  
"Nonny, let it go, I did." Andy said abruptly

"Exactly, Andy! That's what your best at, isnt it!"  
"Gramma, stop..." Ephram said slowly.

"Excuse me young man?!"  
"I'm 20 years old, Gramma, I can make my own decisions. I don't care what either of you have to say, seriously! You may disagree with my relationship with Madison, but I love her...we love each other and we will get through it."

Nonny then turned to Madison, "you brainwashed my grandson again, didn't you! Why don't you go rock the cradle of somebody elses grandchild?!"

Madison was angry and was about to say something but Delia and Ephram beat her to it, "Who do you think you are Gramma?! You don't even know her and you have no right coming here and telling us who we can and cannot love!"  
Then Ephram said to Nonny angrily, "we didn't come here this weekend to get yelled at and ridiculed so. Don't yell at Madison, okay?"

"I'll yell at whomever I want to yell at!"  
"Its none of your business!"

Just then, their grandfather came in and he calmly said, "why don't we give them the test that we gave Julia and Andy when they first started dating." he smiled, "and if they pass it then you" he said looking at Nonny, "can stop yelling and scaring people off. If they fail it, then more power to you..."

"what are you talking about?" asked Ephram heatedly

"Congratulations on the walking by the way" his grandfather said, "the test deals with a few things...If your thick headed father can pass it then I think you and Madison can to. And if you're really in love as you say you are, then the test will prove that." he continued to tell them about the test and how the two have to be separate for two days but at certain points write down things that they think the other is doing or would be doing, or what they would say during a certain situation. They also had to write a list of seven things that were important to them and the relationship.

"Fine..." Ephram said as he glared at his grandmother, "if it will get you off our backs then we'll do it." then he sighed and held Madison's hand, "and when we pass this stupid test of yours then you have to be respectful. When do we start?"

His grandfather smiled wide, "right now, kiss your girlfriend goodbye because she's going with me. Delia gets to come too, just in case I forget anything."  
Ephram hugged Madison goodbye, "I'm sorry..."

Madison was speechless, she thought this was going to be at least a decent weekend, not a crappy one where the grandparents would decide their fate! She jokingly whispered, "I don't like you right now, Ephram."

The two kissed quickly before being hauled off in different directions, away from each other for two days. About 20 minutes later, Nonny said, "alright, son, we're going to do things twice, once will be to write down things that you would do or say during a certain situation, and the second time around is what you think Madison would say or do during that same situation. Hope you have nothing better to do for two days because that how long its going to take."  
Andy broke in, "yeah, she'll try to break you down, get into your mind" he said sarcastically, "she even made your mother cry during this test!"

"Shut up Andy..."

Two days later the tests were finally over, but they couldnt rest yet because they had to review each others answers. The last thing they did was write down the list of seven things they thought were most important to them and the relationship. Ephram was pretty confident that the two would do well on that one since they've talked about it before. That morning Ephram was sleeping on the couch when his grandfather, Madison and Delia came in. Their grandfather walked into the kitchen where Nonny was and they reviewed the answers. Delia jumped on her brother, knocking the wind out of him. Madison tilted her head and smiled as Ephram saw her, "I still don't like you, Ephram."

He reached for her hand, "you're still _my_ favorite person...I'm sorry, I shouldnt have even considered coming home this weekend."

"it was fun, don't get me wrong. I like your grandfather" and she sat beside him on the couch, "that test was definitely time consuming and by the end of the first day, my head hurt...I love you, Ephram..."   
Ephram closed his eyes and leaned towards her and kissed her deeply, something he's wanted to do ever since they got to Everwood but didn't have the chance. About 20 minutes later the grandparents came out. Ephram was sort of apprehensive about it and seemed to form a sort of hatred for his grandmother.

"with reviewing your answers, we were actually pretty surprised."

Nonny said, "10%..."

Panicky, Ephram said angrily, "10 percent?! What's that mean, we failed? I told you your test was stupid! How the hell is a test accurate, it doesnt mean shit!"


	11. the results, the aftermath

Nonny said, "10%..."

Panicky, Ephram said angrily, "10 percent?! What's that mean, we failed? I told you your test was stupid! How the hell is a test accurate, it doesnt mean shit!"

"Ephram..." his grandmother said calmly, "let me finish..."  
"Fine, whatever" said Ephram as he raised his arms and rolled his eyes.  
"we were actually surprised in both of your answers. One scenario that sticks out that we gave both of you was; if Ephram had the chance to move to New York and play for Julliard, what would Madison's reaction be. Both of you pretty much said the same thing, since music is a part of both of your lives, then you wouldnt stand in the way of that and would encourage Ephram to go, even if it meant the two of you wouldnt see each other for a while." she looked around, "another answer that your grandfather and I got a kick out of was the scenario with Madison's ex boyfriend, Jay. If those two were friends and hung out a lot, how would Ephram take it. You both said that Ephram would be jealous and doesnt like Jay for the life of him. Anyway, for the list of things we had you two list, six of the seven answers were the same, which surprised me immensely." she sighed, "I may not agree with your relationship, but this test made me realize that its not my life, not my relationship, and I see how the two of you are happy...so with saying that, Ephram, you both passed and now I will respect your relationship."

Ephram's jaw dropped, he was surprised, all he could do was turn towards Madison and hug her, whispering in her ear, "I love you..."

"Oh, one more thing" he grandmother said as she leaned forward in her seat, "you two cant kiss or touch each other for a week..."  
"What the hell are you...what are you talking about?!" Ephram said quickly

Madison hugged him from behind, "remember that paper you signed before we took the test? It pretty much said that, if we passed the test then we agree to not touch or kiss each other for a week."  
"Are you insane?!" Ephram said quickly, "I've gone three years without touching or kissing Madison, and now you're saying I signed something saying that I would voluntarily NOT touch her?!" He stood up, "Have I mentioned I dont like either of you" he glared at his grandparents before he made his way to the guestroom while his grandparents chatted with Madison.

A few minutes later, Madison made her way to the guestroom, "hey you" she said to Ephram who was laying on the bed.

"Get away from me" he said in a sort of joking manner, "why would they do that? My grandparents have it out for me, and it shows with this stupid ongoing test....one you knew about, and you're fine with!" he scowled

Madison lay on the bed next to him, "I'm not fine with it, though, Ephram..." she sat up and looked at him, "but I want your grandparents approval and that is why I agreed to it."

Ephram frowned, "since when did we start caring about people's approval?"  
"Since your grandmother used to think that I was just the cradle robbing babysitter. I want her approval so she doesnt see me that way. I want her to see me as Madison, the girl in love with her grandson.

Ephram sighed, "I guess you're right...however," he nodded his head, "I dont think I'm going to pass this test because just being in your presence tempts me to hug and touch and kiss you..."

Madison looked around, then picked up a large blanket as a sly grin crept across her face, "sit up..." and he did so, and she proceeded to wrap him in the large blanket and when she couldnt see anything but his head, she bearhugged him and the two rolled off the bed, making a crashing sound, laughing loudly. To their surprise, nobody came in to see what the noise was, and Madison proceeded to hug Ephram tightly, chuckling, "now...I havent figured out a way to kiss yet....but..." she bit her lip as she tried not to laugh, "I think it will come to me"

"Doubt it..." laughed Ephram as he looked at Madison lovingly.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

Just then there was a knock on the door, which panicked the two on the floor. Madison stood up quickly and pulled the blanket, rolling Ephram across the floor as the door opened. It was Delia and the two sighed with relief.

"Difficulties?" asked Delia she she looked at Madison with the blanket in her hands and Ephram sitting on the floo on the other side of the room, "you'll get through it..." she looked at the two of them, "I just want to say...I love you guys..."

"Ohh, that is so sweet, Delia, I love you too" Madison said as she hugged Delia.

Later that night, Madison and Ephram decided to head back home 40 minutes away. He decided not to hug his grandparents, he was still sort of upset with them, Nonny couldnt help but laugh. She finally warmed up to Madison, and Andy no longer seemed to resent her. Everything was sort of back to normal, which Ephram liked.

When they arrived at Ephram's place, it was around 10:30pm and Madison had to work in the morning so she figured she would say goodnight now.

"This is so stupid..." replied Ephram, "even though we're together, my heart is breaking because I cant touch you! We're back at square one..."

Madison slightly smiled and whispered something in Ephram's ear, and he pulled away, "and you're not helping the matters!"  
"We'll get through this...Call me tomorrow...I love you..."

Ephram closed his eyes and blew her a kiss, mouthing, "I love you too"

A few days later, Ephram decided to make it hard for Madison to do this test since he was having a very difficult time as well, so he planned a very romantic night for the two of them at his apartment since his roommates were away. He didnt tell Madison his plan because he wanted to surprise her. She arrived at his place around 8:30pm and when she arrived, she was definitely surprised, there was a note on the front door with a key attached to a string around the doorknob and in the note said, _you will always have the key to my heart, but take the key attached to the string and open the door where you will find second note on the desk near the door_, she did just that, and when she opened the door to the apartment, it was dark with the exception of a few candles scattered around. She found the the desk near the door, and on it, beside the note and a candle, was a single pink rose. In the note, it said, _I still think this is a stupid test, but I would do anything for you, go to the next candle where you will find another note._ By this time, Madison couldnt help but 'aww' and 'ooh' and have a stupid grin on her face just thinking of Ephram. She went to the next candle, which was surrounded by pink rose petals and another note, which said, _why are you still in the dark, turn on the light, ya goof._ And when she turned on the light, it was dim and soft romantic music began to play. She noticed a trail of pink rose petals going into the other room and she decided to follow them. Thinking she'd find Ephram in the other room, there was a note instead, which read, _you are the love of my life...turn around_, which sort of confused her because she didnt think she'd see anything behind her. Ephram was standing in the shadows holding a big plush stuffed animal and he held it out to her as she turned around. "What are you trying to do?" she asked smiling, "are you trying to get us to fail?"

"Actually, I'm trying to make this test difficult for you since its quite difficult for me. Two more days, I dont think I can tough it out..."  
By this time they were less than two feet away now, and all Ephram wanted to do was grab her and hold her and tell her that he loved her. "I'd ask you to dance, but..."  
"I know..." replied Madison softly

The tension between them was increasing, it wasnt a bad tension, but not a sexual tension either, just a sort of tension neither could describe. "In two days, Ephram" Madison said as they lay on the floor next to each other with a pillow in between them, talking, "I want you to kiss me like you've never done before, kiss me like you did that day when you passed your driving test"

Ephram laughed, "my pleasure!" then he propped himself up on an elbow to get a better look at her in the dim light, "I love you, Madison, more than anything in this world." and he looked at her lovingly, which made her turn away, "dont look at me like that!" and she smacked him with another pillow, "you know what that look does to me!"

"you deserve it!" he yelled as he smacked her with a pillow, "you're the one who got us into this mess by signing that stupid thing."  
"dont even start!" she laughed, "you are the one who had to go home for the weekend!"

Not too long afterwards, Madison figured she should go home herself since, if she stayed any longer then she'd probably end up taking a cold shower. "Here's an idea...We dont see or talk to each other for the next two days, then after the two days we'll meet up..." replied Madison softly.

"Maybe you're right..." Ephram said as he tilted his head, "this is torture, so, maybe if we dont see each other then we will be protecting ourselves from wanting to fail that stupid test..." he sighed, "Madison...I love you..."  
She was about to touch his face but stopped herself, they blew each other kisses before she left. They figured, 'out of sight, out of mind' even though they knew it wouldnt work. During those two days, Ephram couldnt get any work done, his mind was on Madison, this was exactly how it was when they first broke up, except this time they are together, just under different circumstances. The next two days, he thought, could not go fast enough. He decided to sleep for as long as he could, maybe the time would pass quicker.  
The two days finally passed and around 1am, Madison showed up at Ephram's apartment. Kyle answered the door since he was always awake at this time and told her that Ephram was probably still sleeping. She crept into his room and stood in the doorway, thinking of how to wake him up. She had butterflies in her stomach as she watched over him even though there was no need to feel that way. She felt like a little school girl all over again breaking some kind of rule. She walked over to him and sat on the bed, turning on the lamp's light, watching him sleep. She figured the best way to wake him was by a sweet gentle kiss, and with that, slowly leaned over.  
  
  



	12. I need you

Madison slowly leaned down and gently touched her lips to his as she placed a hand on his chest. She thought maybe her sweet gentle kiss would wake him up, but Ephram only stirred, which made her tilt her head and smile. She loved him so much and it was as if she fell in love with him all over again, just gazing at him as he slept, so peaceful, so innocent. She smiled to herself before running her fingers through his hair, then she got an idea to play with his lips. She was playfully pulling on his lips and caressing his face, she whispered, "Ephram, sweetie, wake up" and she kissed him again, which made him seem to wake up. As she pulled back, Ephram shifted his head to one side and opened one eye tiredly as he put a hand up to block the light, "What a wonderful surprise!" he said hoarsely. He smiled and the two just looked at each other, not saying anything until Ephram interrupted the silence, "you know..." he began as he sat up, "I had a dream that involved us, but it was strange...like there was a bubble between us and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get to you to touch you or hold you or kiss you..." he slightly smiled.

"you know..." Madison said as she ran her fingers through his hair once again, "that dream sounds familiar, its called, Your Grandparents..." She pulled him to her and hugged him, whispering, "You are what makes me happy, Ephram, and this past week proved it to me over and over." Ephram pulled away and stroked her hair before leaning in to give her a long, deep passionate kiss, something he'd been aching to do before that stupid test of his grandparents started last week.

"Now that...was a kiss" replied Madison when they broke away, her eyes still closed as she smiled. Ephram proceeded to kiss her neck, then her collarbone, which made Madison let out a slight moan of pleasure, she's wanted Ephram to touch her and kiss her like this for as long as she could remember. He helped her out of her jacket and helped her unbutton her blouse and shed it to the floor, she had only her tanktop on now, which made her look just as beautiful. She shed her pants then straddled Ephram's lap, where he proceeded to kiss her chest as she whispered, "I want this Ephram...I want you" then she hungrily kissed him as he lay backwards on the bed, still kissing Madison. He managed to throw the sheets over the two of them, then he rolled over and was now on top of her, their kiss never broken as he wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her up as close to him as he could. He wanted her, but at the same time he wanted this moment between them to last since it had been a few years since they last felt each other's touch and he wanted to make love to her as if it were the first time for the both of them. He wanted it to be special for her since she was so special to him. As he kissed her neck, he faintly traced his fingers against her bare skin, making her shiver, "are you okay?" he whispered.

Madison breathlessly whispered back, "yes, now that I'm with you" and with that, Ephram slowly entered her, a pleasureable feeling for the both of them, one the both of them had been aching for. Madison let out a slight moan as she caressed the back of his neck and ran her fingers through his hair, kissing him still.

The two were now free as they moved together as one, coming together as one. Afterwards, Ephram collapsed beside her, holding her still, not ever wanting to let go, for she was the one he has always wanted and needed. They fell asleep in each other's arms, nothing could ruin this special moment.

The next morning, Madison awoke to Ephram whispering in her ear, "I love you..." when he saw her eyes open, he smiled and said, "how'd you sleep?"

"Last night was wonderful, Ephram..." she said softly kissing him, "you made it special."

"You're special and you deserve everything..."

She smiled, "I have to work today..."  
"are you kidding?" Ephram asked, sounding disappointed.

She nodded and chuckled, "very much so. I couldnt leave you even if I tried."

"Good answer..." he pursed his lips as he touched her face, "hey, we should go to that carnival today. I just want to be with you, I dont care what we do or where we go."

Just then, Bright's voice could be heard in the hallway talking to one of Ephram's roommates, then he barely knocked on Ephram's bedroom door before he walked in happily, "get up, E-dawg" then he did a double take, "oh, uh, nice to...uhm, nice to see you this morning Madison..." he blinked a dozen times then remembered why he was there, "oh right, nevermind" then walked back out of the bedroom.

Ephram laughed amusingly, "_BRIGHT!"_ he yelled, "get back here!"

"I completely forgot that you were with Madison, forget it, I was just going to have you be my wingman for a lunch date that I got today..."  
"How can you forget that I'm with Madison?!" asked Ephram shocked.

Bright's head appeared in the doorway, "hello?! When do I ever remember that stuff, I just forgot that you two were now 'more than friends', if you get my drift." he left again and didnt come back.

"he is such a weird kid..." replied Madison as she got dressed for the day.

The two decided to go eat lunch at their favorite restaurant, the one where they used to meet each other for their double dates. They were laughing and joking and having a good time until they saw heard, then saw, a very disgruntled Troy. He had been sitting at the bar since it opened a couple hours ago.   
"Oh no..." breathed Madison, "we should go before he sees us, he's not pleasant to be around when he's been drinking..."

But before they could leave, Troyspotted them and yelled to them and then followed them outside, which sort of freaked Madison out. As they got outside, Troy's plump hand landed on Ephram's shoulder, stopping him from going anywhere. Ephram had never noticed how tall Troy was until now, and it sort of scared him since Troy wasnt a good guy when he was drunk. Troy glared at Ephram and squeezed a fist. Madison didnt know what to do, she obviously didnt want Ephram to get beaten up, and she wanted Troy to leave, but, how?

Troy raised his hand, then Madison said softly, "Troy..." which made him turn his head slowly towards her...


	13. shock and amusement

(A/N; thank you so much everybody for the reviews, they really do mean a lot! Now, if there is a storyline for this fic or my other fic "living the life" that you want me to write, let me know, I always love suggestions!!)

The two decided to go eat lunch at their favorite restaurant, the one where they used to meet each other for their double dates. They were laughing and joking and having a good time until they saw heard, then saw, a very disgruntled Troy. He had been sitting at the bar since it opened a couple hours ago.   
"Oh no..." breathed Madison, "we should go before he sees us, he's not pleasant to be around when he's been drinking..."

But before they could leave, Troyspotted them and yelled to them and then followed them outside, which sort of freaked Madison out. As they got outside, Troy's plump hand landed on Ephram's shoulder, stopping him from going anywhere. Ephram had never noticed how tall Troy was until now, and it sort of scared him since Troy wasnt a good guy when he was drunk. Troy glared at Ephram and squeezed a fist. Madison didnt know what to do, she obviously didnt want Ephram to get beaten up, and she wanted Troy to leave, but, how?

Troy raised his hand, then Madison said softly, "Troy..." which made him turn his head slowly towards her...  
  
"I've missed you Madison!" his voice slurred as he turned towards her, forgetting to let go of Ephram and dragging him with him until Ephram stumbled and fell, but Troy was still holding on to him so he helped him up by pulling him up by his shirt, "sorry man, did I hurt you?"  
"Troy" breathed Madison as she took a hesitant step forward, "what are you doing?"

Troy thought for a second, playing with his tongue ring, then glanced over at Ephram who seemed as if he just saw a ghost since his face was white and his body was stiff. Troy slurred as he pushed Ephram up against the wall and got in his face, "Do you love Madison?!"

"very much so" Ephram flinched and blinked several times as he managed to force out softly as he looked up at Troy.

"I jes' wanna say...uhh...you take good care of her, you un'erstan' me? Or else I will be forced to hurt you because she's a won'erfu' person!" and he tried giving Ephram a friendly punch on the shoulder but it wasnt as friendly as he was hoping, he hit him a bit harder than he was thinking he would. Then he looked at Madison and nodded his head and stumbled back into the restaurant. Ephram couldnt help but collapse to the ground and after Madison got over her shock, she started laughing, "oh my god!" and pulled him up and threw her arms around his neck, "I thought he was going to hurt you!"

Rubbing his shoulder, Ephram said, "sorry to burst your bubble, but he did. Not only am I in a bit of pain, but Troy has officially traumatized me for life."  
"Lets get out of here" smiled Madison as she took Ephram's arm and started walking. "You're my knight in shining armor" she said after a little bit and bumped Ephram's hip with hers.

"How so?" he asked as he put an arm around her waist as they walked.

"you stood up to Troy, that means a lot."

"Well, I do love you and I will stand up for you even if it means getting my ass kicked" he joked. The two walked around the city together for the rest of the afternoon, laughing and joking and having a good time, something neither of them had done for a couple years. They decided to go to the little park to soak up the sun, and to let Ephram rest his legs since he didnt bring his crutches and he was getting tired.

They laid on the crisp green grass with their heads together as they pretended the clouds looked like different objects. When there was a bit of comfortable silence, Madison asked, "what are you thinking about?"

Thoughtfully, Ephram replied, "why we didnt work out the last time." with that, he rolled on his stomach and put his chin in his hands as he looked at Madison who looked up at him. He asked, "do you think it was the age difference? You in college, me still in high school?"  
"You know..." Madison thought for a second, "I'm not really sure...Delia asked me that once and I said that it was because we were at a different place in our lives....know what she said?"

Ephram shook his head, wanting her to continue as he looked at her and listened intently.

"She said, which actually made me leave the room and cry because she was so right, 'but you're both here and you love each other'...or, something like that. I dont think it ever made sense to me as to why we broke up the first time..."

"Me neither..." Ephram replied softly before he leaned over and kissed her sweetly, "but we're together now and I know we'll work out. It's our second chance."

"you make me feel so good, Ephram" Madison replied as she rolled over on her stomach and put her chin in the palms of her hands. Ephram then rolled back on his back and looked up at her. The two talked and joked for a little while longer before Madison said, "ready to walk again?"

"Oh my god!" Ephram said panicky as he sat up and touched his legs, "I cant feel my legs, I cant move them!"

"Oh no, Ephram!" replied Madison as she quickly made her way over to him, "what do we do!"

Ephram looked at her with a panicky look and the two looked at each other, then a wide grin came over him as he said, "just kidding!"

Madison pushed him backwards, "not funny you jerk!"

Ephram laughed as he grabbed his shoulder, "oww! That was too funny, you should have seen your face!"

She stood up, "I can run to the car right now and leave your gimpy ass here, dont tempt me Brown!" she joked as she pushed him again then threw grass in his hair, "at least I didnt look as if I had just seen a ghost!"

Ephram stood up, "oh, that's a low blow!" and he began to chase her around in circles, "he's a foot taller than I am and about twice my size" He threw grass at her, which made her stop running and pulled some grass to throw at him. He pretended to tackle her and pulled her to the ground where they lay together, laughing breathlessly.

"You still have grass in your hair, let me--" Madison said as she picked the grass out of his hair.

Ephram wrapped his arms around her waist, "have I mentioned that I love you?"  
"Not in the last half hour, no, but you have twice today otherwise." she smiled then kissed him happily.

"What would I do without you? You make life that much more fun!"

"who knows, you'd probably still be with Kay, arguing daily."

"Oh, dont remind me!" he said as he covered his eyes.

So, speaking of Kay, is she still going to bowl with us when we go out?"

"You know, I actually dont know about that. She seems okay with the two of us together, but she never really did like bowling, she only went to make me happy."

"Well, then, looks like when we do go then it will be two guys vs two girls."  
"Its about time we have a fair shot!"  
"You know..." Madison said as she smiled, "we should do that tonight, go bowling I mean."  
"Do you want to invite Kay? Wouldnt that be awkward?" asked Ephram concerned.

"For who? You?" she asked jokingly, "I think I'd be fine with it, it's up to you, you're the one who broke up with her."

"I doubt Bright's date will last long anyway" joked Ephram, "I'll call him when we get back to my house today." and with that, the two got up and headed for the car arm in arm. They were absolutely in love even if they did bowl for fun with their ex-relationships. Madison thought, 'it'd be interesting to see what Kay will do...'


	14. care too much

(A/N; wow, sorry kids, whole buncha things goin' on 'round here! Hope this chapter is as good as the rest, dont wanna disappoint my Ephison shippers! Ha ha.)

"Looks like Kay is late yet again" Bright said as he came back from rolling a practice ball down the lane, "what, did you guys have a fight?" he chuckled, but came to find out that Ephram and Kay did have a fight.

"When dont we fight?" he asked sarcastically, "I thought things would change, but nothing has. I regret having called her tonight, I mean, we should have just stuck with you, me, Kya and Madison." he slouched in his chair and folded his arms.

Just then, Kay made her way over to the other bowlers and greeted them, giving Ephram a little hug. There was a familiar scent to her, which made Ephram do a double take, he then leaned forward and sniffed the air around her. Just as he figured out the scent, she smiled. Ephram's eyes grew big and he became concerned as he raised his voice to her in a whispering manner, "are you insane, Kay?! I thought you quit smoking?!" He stood up, "why'd you even come if you were going to be stoned?! GAH!"

She smiled that stoned smile, "I missed you" and she pressed her body to his. Ephram threw up his arms and stepped back, "oh my god! Kay..." he shook his head in disbelief. Kay definitely knew how to push the right buttons to upset Ephram, it seemed like a pastime of hers. Ephram decided to walk away and went to where the lockers were. Bright noticed this and he grabbed Kay's arm before she could follow him, "Kay...we're going to call a friend so you can get home, okay? You shouldn't be here right now. You do realize, every time you act like this, you upset Ephram?"

It struck Kay funny, "the gang is all here, why's he upset?" she said innocently

"You are the reason he's upset, Kay!" Bright said as he raised his voice slightly. Kya noticed that Bright was getting agitated, so she broke in and took Kay by the arm and took her outside to wait for her friend to take her home. During that time, Bright filled Madison in on the whole Kay pot smoking thing and why it angered Ephram so. "Ever see the movie, Trapped in a Purple Haze?" asked Bright to Madison, "granted, its based on a heroin addict, but just the same" he did a wave of his hand absentmindedly, "Kay hit rock bottom and Ephram helped her out with that, he was the one who convinced her to go into rehab. It was a huge deal for the both of them and Ephram hates it when she smokes. She was clean for several months..." he shook his head and looked towards the door, "but I guess she's not now...Poor Ephram, I dont think he could go through that again, ya know?"

"So..." Madison seemed confused, "what's the movie got to do with Kay's situation?"  
Bright thought for a moment, "I dont know, actually...the whole drug thing mabye?" he laughed at himself before taking a couple more practice rolls. Madison decided to go find Ephram. He was sitting in the locker area with his chin on the palm of his hands and he seemed to be thinking deeply.

Madison sat next to him and bumped him with her shoulder, which seemed to get him out of his daze, "what's up?" she asked concerned, "Bright filled me in with the whole rehab thing, care to talk about it?"

Ephram sighed then wiped his mouth, "...I dont even know where to start..." he stood up and started slowly pacing around the locker area, "I give so much to people I care about, so much..." he paused, then raised his arms out of frustration, "why would she do this?! She was doing so well!" he grunted, "it's not like it only affects her, gaa-AWD! She's so selfish!" and he kicked the air. Madison could tell he seemed very frustrated to the point where he wanted to cry so she stood up and walked over to him. She embraced him in a hug, at first he protested and struggled a little bit to get free, but then embraced her back and hugged her tightly burying his face into her neck. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, you probably think I'm just over reacting" he whispered.  
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ephram. Of course I dont think you're over reacting, this is a huge thing that means a lot to you."  
The two stood there talking for a little bit longer when Kya came in, "Are we bowling or what?! Psychopath ex-girlfriend is gone, so we're all set."  
Trying to make a joke, Ephram said, "what, you mean, you dated her too?"

"Funny smartass, lets go, I dont have all night!" and she lead the way back to the bowling lane where Bright was taking what seemed like his 50th practice ball.

They only bowled one game rather than their normal three because Ephram wasnt himself and didnt feel like being around people at the moment. They mingled in the parking lot for a little while before going their separate ways Ephram sat on the back of Bright's car and Madison stood in between his legs and the two wrapped their arms around each other as they all chitchatted for a little bit.. Bright decided to take Ephram home since Madison had to work the next morning and lived in the opposite direction. Before they left, Madison reminded Ephram that she had to go to Aspen for her job for a couple days. Ephram hugged her, "I hate when I'm away from you for so long..."  
Bright laughed, "Dude, it's two days, you can deal! Besides you'll have me! We'll pick up hot chicks!"

Madison tried not to laugh at the stupid remark and at the 'whatever' face Ephram had given him. She then whispered, "save this for when I get back" and she kissed him deeply, teasing him with her tongue." When she pulled away, Ephram looked at her, "that's not funny."

They went off in their different directions for the night. 20 minutes later, as Ephram got to his apartment, he called Madison's home phone, but obviously she wasnt home, but he left a message anyway, "you take care of yourself while you're several hours away from me. I can't stand being away from you but I guess I have to deal...I love you" and with that, he hung up then called her cell phone. She picked up smiling, "Ephram Brown, I just saw you 20 minutes ago and I'll see you in two days, what do you want?"

"Just to hear your voice. Oh, and I left a mixed CD on your kitchen table and you should listen to it because it's got songs on it that remind me of you, of us, and I think you'll like it. It'll give you something to listen to on your way up there."

Well, Sweetie, I definitely appreciate it. I have to go, but I love you and we'll talk soon, okay?"

Ephram didnt say anything, which made Madison smile, "Ephram, okay? We'll talk later? Dont make me hang up without you not saying anything? _Ephram!"_

"I love you to" he laughed, "I miss you already..."

"Bye sweetie" and with that, the two hung up. About 10 minutes later, Madison got home and got the message that Ephram had left on her answering machine, it made her smile.


	15. miss you so

"Shut up already!" yelled Bright to Ephram as they were sitting on the couch a couple days later, "you irriate the shit out of me, bro! If you're not complaining about something then its always Madison! And to think, it was the same when you two broke up the first time, but the difference with this is that you are not broken up, just shut uuup!" and he threw a pillow at Ephram who just sighed and slouched in his seat.  
"Let's talk about Amy then" he said trying to change the subject

"I'd actually rather not, thanks though."  
"How is she doing, have you spoken to her or anything?"  
"Dude, what's the sudden interest in my sister?"

"There's no sudden interest there, Bright" snapped Ephram, "just something to talk about I guess." he thought for a second, "you know...she never did come visit me while I was in the hospital."

"I told her not to"

"Did you really?" Ephram asked interestedly

"No, bro, do you really think she would have listend to me anyway?" Bright ate some chips then asked, "why are we talking about my sister? Is this about the whole Kay situation?"

Surprised, Ephram said, "When did you get so smart all of a sudden? Or am I just that obvious?" he sighed, "I guess because Kay is doing....hmm...not so good, then it's making me realize that I should start talking to my old friends again."

"Dude...you havent spoken to my sister in over two years so forgive me if I'm taken aback by the whole thing of talking about her."

"No, forget it" replied Ephram neutrally, "So, Madison's coming home in a couple hours."  
"really? I never woulda figured that out" replied Bright sarcastically. They went back to watching the TV. After a while Bright asked, "Do you think that you'd be with my sister if Madison wasn't in the picture?"  
"Where'd that come from? I thought we were done talking about your sister?"

"Just answer the question, bro."

"Who knows...I mean, everything between your sister and I were always so complicated, I dont know man." he paused for a second and smiled when he thought of Madison, "But Madison...She's my world, she's definitely got my heart." he seemed to choke up just thinking about how happy he was with her.

Hours went by before Madison came home. She stopped by the grocery store to pick up a couple things, and that candle that brought back the memories was one of those things. She wanted to see if it did the same thing to Ephram as it did to her so she couldnt wait until she got home.

When she arrived, they embraced eagerly and were very excited to see each other. "I missed you so much!" Ephram said before pulling away from the hug.

"I was gone two days, it couldnt have been that bad."  
"Bright kicked me out of his apartment because I was complaining too much."

"no way!" laughed Madison, "Well, at least I had that CD you gave me to keep me company. I had never heard that song by Lionel Richie, _"In My Dreams"_, I couldnt stop crying!" She pulled out the candle from her bag, "Oh, oh, before I forget, smell this and tell me what comes to mind..."  
Ephram slowly took it but asked before he smelled it, "does this have anything to do with that song you asked me to listen to that made me freak out?"

Madison thought for a moment, "I dont think it will have that same effect, but it's something long those lines."  
"I'm scared now." Ephram said jokingly. He smelled the scented candle and at that moment was taken to a place in his past then rushed back just as quickly, which almost made him drop the candle.

"I did the exact same thing!"

"When I first told you I loved you..." he said slowly as he looked at her, "that's amazing..."

Madison couldnt help but pull him to her and embrace him in another hug, "thanks for the new memories, Ephram." she pulled away and the two looked at each other before kissing each other deeply, passionately. Again, Madison teased Ephram with her tongue. When they broke away, it was a kiss that seemed to linger and Ephram just had to kiss her again.  
"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Madison asked

"spending time with you, I hope" Ephram said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at her.

(A/N; granted, this chapter is shorter than the others, but I figured since I'm writing two then it evens out. Hopefully I dont take so long with the next chapters next time! You know what to do, thanks muchly!!)


	16. authors note

Authors Note; Hey everybody, sorry its taking me so long to actually put up new chapters for either of my fics, but things are quite busy in my neck of the woods, therefore I hardly have time to think of things to write, much less write them and put them up for you folks to read! Dont worry though, I dont plan on NOT stopping any time soon, I guess you could say though that I'm sort of putting my stories on hiatus at the moment.

Oh, and a couple of you asked whether or not people can be paralyzed from the knee down as Ephram was in this story, and yes you can be. The thing that I exaggerated about that is that I confined Ephram to a wheelchair when he could have just had crutches since the rest of the leg worked. I figured it'd be a more interesting story if we confined him to a wheelchair! **Thanks everybody, you mean a lot!**


	17. my friend, how I love thee

(A/N; well, long time no hear from, huh. Writers block! I'm done with the training for my work so hopefully I can figure out more things to write. Hopefully this chapter is to your liking and hopefully I write more chapters soon, especially for my other fic!)

Early the next morning Ephram got a call on his cell phone from his ex-girlfriend's mother, and she seemed panic stricken; "Ephram, oh my god, something happened to Kay!"

Ephram quickly raised up in bed like a jack in the box, rubbing his eyes and in a groggy voice he said, "What? Calm down, Mrs. Jules, please, what do you mean?"

"I dont know who else to call, Ephram" she broke down and sobbed hysterically, "the ambulance is on their way but I think it's too late! I think it's too late, Ephram!"

Trying very hard to stay calm, Ephram gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly, "what's too late, Mrs. Jules, tell me! What's wrong with Kay?!"

"She was throwing up all last night and this morning, we thought it was just a bug but then she told me she took too much... I dont know what that means, Ephram!" she said in between sobs, "The ambulance is here, I have to go! Ephram, please promise me you'll meet me at the hospital, please!"

but before Ephram could answer her, she hung up the phone. Ephram's brain was in a tail spin, he didnt know what was going on. Kay, although an ex-girlfriend, she still meant a lot to him, that would never go change. How could she do this? She was doing so well? Could you overdose on marijuana? Ephram thought this as he readily got dressed then headed out the door. It wasn't even 8am yet. He had to call Madison and tell her what was up.

As he was driving to the hospital, thinking the worst, he phoned Madison, who was still asleep. It was the weekend after all, and she did just get home from a business trip. Ephram would be surprised if she answered her phone, but she didnt so he left a message on her voice mail, his voice quivering, "Madison, it's Ephram...um...meet me at the hospital please..." he paused, "Kay overdosed and her mom needs my support." he paused again, this time a little longer, "I would really like you to be there...I dont think I can go through this thing alone...not again..." and with that, he hung up and sped up as he made his way to the hospital.

Just to think, having to through this again...especially alone, he didnt think he could handle it. The first time he had to be strong for Kay's mom, who was a complete wreck. She was doing so well! Ephram became angry, _how could she be so selfish_ he thought as he hit the steering wheel.

Before he knew it he was at the hospital, parked, then running straight for the emergency room doors. He ran to the front desk, and out of breath asked quickly, "has Kaitlyn Jules been admitted yet?"

The nurse looked up, "are you family?"

"What?!" asked Ephram taken aback.

Just then he heard a familiar voice, panic stricken as it was, he still recognized it, "Oh Ephram!" Kay's mom cried as she made her way over to him.

"the doctors dont know what it is yet, but said that it was most likely a marijuana overdose with another drug..." she embraced Ephram tightly, sobbing heavily into his neck.

Ephram sat her down in the nearest chair and knelt beside her, trying to ease her pain.

Madison woke up a few minutes later because she thought she heard her phone ring, which was a part of her dream. She picked it up and noticed she had voice mail. She got Ephram's message, but instead of calling him back, she made her way to the hospital because she knew he would need her in a time like this. She knew that he went into a sort of depression the first time this happened and tried everything he could to help Kay out, but time it seemed worse, much worse and she wanted to be there for Ephram.

The doctor came out with grave news. He pursed his lips as he looked at Kay's mother and at Ephram. He said, "we figured out the other drug she took. It's a drug called Hydrocodone..." he waited for their reactions.

Ephram shook his head and said slowly, "what is that? I've never...heard of that"

Mrs. Jules sank back into her chair and covered her face as she sobbed even more. She choked, "those are my pills! They are pain relief pills"

Ephram looked at the doctor then at Mrs. Jules with a hopeless look upon his face. He was angry, much angrier than he was thinking he could ever be. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "is she going to be okay?"

The doctor put a hand on Ephram's shoulder and softly said, "we're not sure yet...We'll let you know in due time" and with that he walked the other way.

Ephram just stood there, helpless and angry. Not sure whether to yell or kick a wall, he went outside to calm his nerves, to try to make sense of everything.

Madison finally made her way to the hospital, parked then made her way towards the emergency room doors. Just as she was getting close, she noticed Ephram walking back into the hospital so she walked faster, hoping he was okay.

Mrs. Jules grabbed Ephram's wrists and was still sobbing as the doctor walked away again, "the doctor said that she's in a coma! She's in a coma Ephram! How could this happen!" Then she became hysterical even more, thinking aloud, "she said she took too much, she took too much! Why didnt I see it! Why now? Things were going so well!"

Ephram pulled away, all he could think was how his ex-girlfriend was in a coma and how he needed comfort, but had to be strong at the same time. Everything inside him blew up at that moment. He backed away, his eyebrows raised as he blinked several times, trying to hold back his tears. His bottom lip quivered, "I dont believe it... I can't...This isn't happening, it can't be happening, not again!" he turned towards the nearest wall and threw himself against it, "_not again!"_

Just then Madison came into the hospital and saw Ephram yelling as he threw himself against the wall.

"Uuuuggggghhhh!" he yelled as he gripped one of the hospital chairs, trying to calm himself.

"Eprham" Madison said breathlessly as he fell to his knees and started crying. She ran up to him and knelt down in front of him and whispered as she touched his back, "I'm here, sweetie, I'm right here..." not knowing what else to say. Ephram buried his face in his arms and finally let go and cried.

Madison rubbed his back soothingly and put her head on the back of his and whispered, "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

About an hour later, Madison was able to coax Ephram up and to sit down in one of the chairs. She felt so helpless, not knowing what do to. She also felt sick, knowing that this happened before and how he had nobody to support him. She never let go of Ephram, she either held his hand or had her arm around his shoulder, she knew he needed her.

Mrs. Jules was being comforted by a friend of hers who had shown up a little while ago.

Ephram decided to get fresh air, Madison followed him, all the while holding his hand. There was silence between them. Ephram not wanting to talk, Madison not knowing what to say. Finally, he said softly, "Hydrocodone..." he shook his head as he stared at the ground. Madison couldnt help but pull Ephram towards her and embrace him in a hug, something she had wanted to do since she got there. They stood there for the longest time, just embraced in each other's arms. When Ephram pulled away, Madison tilted her head and gently wiped a tear away from Ephram's face as he said, "it's a pain relief drug that increases drowsiness...take enough of it with Marijuana and you can fall asleep and die from it..." she smirked, "she told me that once but I never picked up on it." He paused, "she's going to die."

"Ephram, dont think that way" Madison said quickly as she bit her bottom lip.

Ephram couldnt help but move some strands of her hair out of her face as he said, "she's in a coma, Madison..." he looked at the parking lot then back at Madison and grabbed her hand, "you know what, let's get out of here, I don't want to be here anymore"

"Ephram, what are you doing?" she said as she looked at him weird, trying to think of a way to keep him here at the hospital.

"Please?" he said with a pleading look, "I need to get away..."

Madison didnt know what else to do, she loved him so much and hated the fact that he was hurting inside. She went with him, they got into his car and drove out of the parking lot.


	18. my way of dealing

(A/N; Couriro, how can you ask me such a question?! I dont think I have a set place for them. LOL. We'll see in due time! Thanks for the reviews everybody, they mean a lot! Just so we're clear, I'm not sure where this will end up since I'm just writing as pieces come to me...)

Ephram couldnt help but move some strands of her hair out of her face as he said, "she's in a coma, Madison..." he looked at the parking lot then back at Madison and grabbed her hand, "you know what, let's get out of here, I don't want to be here anymore"  
"Ephram, what are you doing?" she said as she looked at him weird, trying to think of a way to keep him here at the hospital.  
"Please?" he said with a pleading look, "I need to get away..."  
Madison didnt know what else to do, she loved him so much and hated the fact that he was hurting inside. She went with him, they got into his car and drove out of the parking lot.  
  
About 20 or so minutes later, Ephram pulled over on the side of the road, got out then just sat on the front part of his car, looking straight ahead as his fingers were intertwined and his elbows were on his knees. Madison got out and slowly walked up to him, absent-mindedly brushing her hair off her shoulder.   
"Talk to me Ephram..." she said softly as she moved close to him and rubbed his back.  
He just smirked and looked at the ground shaking his head, "this is my way of dealing...I just shut myself off to the world. It works fine."  
"It doesnt work fine, though, Ephram." she moved around to the front of him and held his hands, "You dont have to go through this again by yourself, you have me and I'm not going anywhere. The first time you went through it, I never saw you, nobody ever saw you and you were always depressed. You cant shut yourself off again, I wont let you."  
Ephram leaned forward and put his head on her shoulder. After a while he jumped down and stood there in front of Madison with tears in his eyes, he took her hands and interwined his fingers with hers. Standing there, Ephram said softly as he looked down at their hands, "I want to feel your skin on mine. Just to know that you're real is all I want. To have you..." he sighed, "to have you here means the world to me. I dont think I can go through this by myself again." he sniffled, "I need you, Madison, more than ever."  
Madison tilted her head then pulled Ephram by the back of his neck and embraced him into a tight hug and whispered in his ear, "I'm not going anywhere." then she pulled away and looked him in the eyes, "Listen, Eph...You need to face this and be prepared for the worst." she paused, "we need to go back, _you_ need to go back.  
Ephram thought for a second and took a deep breath, "no...I cant...I cant..." his bottom lip quivered as he spoke.  
Not too long afterwards, Madison was able to get Ephram back into the car and drive back to the hospital, if for anything; closure, even if it just meant saying goodbye to his friend.   
They had been gone a little over an hour, and when they entered the hospital wing once again, Mrs. Jules was there to give them the news. She seemed a little wired, but then again, who wouldnt be during a time like this?  
"She's in a coma." she paused to compose herself, "You should go in and see her, Ephram...I think maybe your presence will do her good."  
"I'd actually rather not--" he said, but then Madison sort of elbowed him in the ribs, which was her way of telling him that he really should.  
"Fine...I'll go see her." and he took Madison's hand and the two walked to Kay's room, she was hooked up to so many machines, Ephram was afraid to go in. As he hesitantly walked to the bedside, he couldnt help but think, _what's the point of this, it's not like she can tell I'm here..._  
Madison waited outside for a few minutes to give Ephram some space and privacy as he sat with Kay.  
"Squeeze my hand if you can hear me..." he said softly as he took Kay's hand. Nothing happened, not that he thought it would. Just then he decided to vent his frustrations, "How could you do this to us, Kaitlyn?! You had no right!" he lowered his head, angry at himself for yelling at a person in a coma, but angry also at Kay for over-dosing. "You know what" he said as he raised his head, "I dont even know why I'm here..." and he got up and left the room, barely looking at Madison or Mrs. Jules as he walked passed them. He shoved his hands in his pockets, Madison took his arm and the two walked out of the hospital arm in arm. "You gonna be okay?" she asked concerned.  
"Honestly, I dont know..." trying to optimistic he said, "I got through this once, I can get through it again."  
"I'll call you tonight?" Madison said as she pulled him close to give him a hug.  
"I'd like that." he pulled away and kissed Madison softly, "I love you more than you know. Your compassion, your understanding, it makes things so much easier."  
The two kissed deeply before heading off in different directions. As much as Ephram loved Madison, he needed his space for the moment to figure things out and was glad she knew that. Their connection seemed to grow stronger every day and knew what the other was thinking even before they had to say it. It's an amazing bond these two have, and Ephram knew he was lucky.   
When he got home, he decided to immerse himself in his homework for next week so he didnt have to think about much. He didnt get too much work done, though, because he was thinking too much about Kay's situation.


	19. brighten the day

For the next few days, it was like Ephram hit a wall and could do nothing but stay in his room and sleep. It was really starting to irk both Bright and Madison, so one day the two of them went over to Ephram's place to get him out of bed, to take him somewhere, anywhere to get his mind off of what was depressing him.  
Bright seemed to be the angriest, he barged in Ephram's room and started yelling at him, "what is your problem, bro! You said you weren't going to shut yourself away, but what have you done? Just that! You're not the only one hurting here, dawg!"  
This surprised Ephram, all he could say was, "What?"  
"Don't give me that shit! Get dressed, we're going out!" he continued to yell as he threw Ephram his clothes, "If you think Madison and I are going to let you just sit here in your room and wallow in your own self pity you got another thing coming!"

"What?! I'm not wallowing--" he said slowly before Bright cut him off

"Then what the hell do you call this?! Stop dwelling on the past, bro! Seriously, do you think Kay would want you sitting alone in your room being miserable? NO! There's a whole life out there, Ephram" he said as he pointed harshly out the bedroom window towards a sunny blue sky, "you're coming with us whether you want to or not, we've had enough of walking on eggshells around you for the past several days and trying to just talk you out of being this way!"  
With that, Ephram looked at Bright, then to Madison who just half smiled and shrugged her shoulders, which made him look back at Bright.

"Just so you know," Bright continued as they finally got out to his vehicle, "I'm only doing this because Madison is worried about you and I hate seeing you like this. We would have talked to you but you do nothing but sit around and sigh! You're like, uh, like...you're like a fly that just got caught on fly tape!"

"Great analogy, Bright" Madison said sarcastically as she tried not to laugh.

"What are we doing?" Ephram asked indifferently.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" replied Bright. He and Madison had the whole day planned, hoping it would get Ephram out of the rut he's been in ever since Kay overdosed. He was sitting in the back for most of the day, not saying much, just taking in everything around him as Madison and Bright laughed and joked about different things. Maybe Bright was right, Kay wouldnt want him to sit alone dwelling over the past. It didnt do him any good the first time, and it certainly wouldn't do any good this time, he has no control over it no matter how long he wallows.

They all had a late lunch, went to the mall for a little bit then decided to just drive around to no place in particular, all the while Ephram figuring things out in his head. He was quiet to begin with so Madison and Bright paid no attention to him, their main goal was to get him out of the house.

"How sweet it is to be loved by you" sang Madison with the radio as she glanced at Ephram with a smile. She didnt get too much of a reaction out of him, just a slight smile before he looked out the window. Then Bright started singing, which made them both stop since they couldnt stay in synch and because Bright was so off beat that it made the both of them sound bad.

At one point, Madison and Bright started playfully arguing, "It's a cabin!" laughed Bright

"I beg to differ, it's definitely a fort! How in the heck do you get a cabin?" then she thought for a second, "well, I guess a cabin sort of looks like a fort?"  
"Not even close!"  
"Shut up already! It's not a cabin or a fort! Its a....a _fabin_," Ephram said softly yet sarcastically.

Madison couldnt help but laugh, "was that sarcasm from the peanut gallery?"  
"Welcome back to the land of the living, bro!" laughed Bright as he glanced at Ephram in the mirror.

"You know, those are the most words you've said all week" reminded Madison as she climbed into the backseat where Ephram was.

Ephram half smiled and looked out the car window for a second then turned back to Madison, "I guess you could say I just needed a dose of reality. Locking myself in my room does nothing for me. You were right when you said I just need to get on with my life."

"Wait, what? What was that, did I just hear that I was right?" laughed Bright, "see, what would you do without us!"  
Ephram sighed, "I'm sorry for the way I was acting this past week. You guys didnt deserve that."  
"You know, it's about time you said something like that, cuz if you didnt Bright and I were going to have to call up our hitman so he could take you out!" joked Madison.

"Dude, we're sorta used to you acting all emotional and shit, it comes natural. But if you try to push us away again, next time we'll kidnap you and feed you to the wild animals!" Bright said trying to sound serious, but it only made Madison laugh, "I mean damn, bro, you know you can talk to us! You dont need to go through that shit by yourself!"

Ephram rubbed his cheek, "yeah, I know."

A few hours later, a little after 11pm, they finally got back to Ephram's place where Bright dropped both Ephram and Madison off since he had to work the next morning. Madison was tugging on Ephram's shirt as they made their way into his apartment, she was happy to see him at least a little bit happier than he was this morning.

The two talked and joked around for a little while longer before deciding to go to bed. Madison was spending the night, she figured it would be good for Ephram, so he wouldnt be alone.

As they were cuddling with each other, Ephram whispered in her ear, "Madison...I love you."  
This made Madison smile, she hadnt heard him say that for almost a week now, "I was waiting for you to say something like that" she said happily as she bear hugged him, then kissed him softly on the lips, "I've missed you, I hope you're back to your old self again."

"Me too" he said as he kissed her softly on the lips himself, "I missed us and I cant tell you how sorry I am for being such a jerk for the last week. It was selfish."

Madison kissed him again, this time a little longer, then said, "you're forgiven."

She couldnt help but trace his upper body with her fingers, sometimes making him shiver. The two fell asleep in each other's arms; Madison's arm around Ephram's midsection, and his arm around her shoulders.


	20. spending the day away

(A/N: we can blame the lackage of updates on this particular fic on the new one that I have been writing. Not sure where to go from here but hopefully you like this chapter at least a little bit. Either way let me know that you read it so give me some reviews!)

"Know how much I love you?" asked Ephram one day to Madison as they were sitting in the kitchen figuring things out to do for the upcoming week since they had some of the same days off together.

Madison brushed her beautiful blond hair from her shoulder as she leaned in closer to Ephram with a smile upon her face, "I have an idea, but why dont you clarify it for me one more time?" and with that, Ephram leaned in closer and the two kissed each other sweetly. When Ephram pulled away, Madison teased, "you're going to have to do a little better than that if you want me to believe you..."

Ephram smiled, stood up and pulled Madison up towards him by her hand. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she put her arms around his neck and he leaned in slowly for an even more passionate kiss, at first teasing her lips with his tongue, then slipping it into her mouth, which made her moan softly. This time when he pulled away, Madison couldnt help but plant little wet kisses all over his face. He then pulled her into a hug, burying his face into her neck as she combed her fingers through his hair.

"I dont know how I would have gotten through that whole Kay thing without you."

"I know" she said simply with a smile upon her face. She pulled away from the hug, "so, what are we going to do with all this time on our hands!" she was excited to have so much time off from work.

Thinking for a second, Ephram thought, "lets go hiking...or rock climbing at that indoor gym not too far from here."

"speaking of rocks, we can go to that Garden of the Gods place that people talk so highly about. Isnt that in or near the Springs? I've been there a couple times but when I was younger, I dont remember any of it"  
Ephram smiled, his arms still wrapped around her, "we could make a day of it, or even a couple days."  
"We've never done anything like that before, I think it'd be really fun!" she laughed, "lets go now! No planning or packing, lets just hop in the car and go." her eyes lit up.

Ephram was speechless as he was being dragged towards the front door by his hand, all he could do was laugh at the spontaneity of it all. Before he knew it they were in the car and heading towards Colorado Springs, Colorado, a few hours away.

"Madison you're insane!" laughed Ephram as he buckled his seatbelt.

"You know it'll be fun. Plus it will give us time to spend together...alone...with nobody to bother us..." just then she looked at their cell phones just as Ephram did, so she grabbed them and turned them off and threw them into the backseat, which made Ephram laugh even more, "you've lost your mind!"

"You love me and you know it." she smiled

The two played games the entire way down, and it was almost midnight by the time they found a motel to stay in. Madison, who drove most of the way, was exhausted but happy nevertheless. She jumped onto the bed and sprawled out, making it difficult for Ephram to even find a place to sit on the bed.

"You do realize we only have about $37 dollars..." he said amused.

"we'll rough it, we're tough we can handle it." with that she grabbed Ephram's arm out from under him and he fell on his face into the mattress. The two started wrestling, laughing and having a wonderful time before they figured they should go to bed.

The two laid together on the bed, just holding each other and enjoying the company when Ephram said, "my dad is going to kill me"

"What?! You're 20 years old, Eph, he shouldnt mind." she laughed, "well, speaking of yer pappy, how is he doing?"

"he's good, our relationship is good, only took us a couple years."

The two chatted a little bit more about the relationship with Andy before drifting off to sleep still fully clothed. Then again, its not like they brought any clothes with them on this spontaneous little trip of theirs. Madison couldnt wait to walk around and climb on the rocks tomorrow, she hadnt done that since she was very little and sharing such a great experience with Ephram was going to be so much fun.


	21. hot

The next morning the two decided to grab a quick something for breakfast before heading out for the day to climb/walk on the rocks. Madison couldnt help but jump up and down as they got to the visiter's center where they picked up a map describing each different trail. Ephram was sort of standing behind her and looking over his shoulder looking at the map when he pointed out, "lets take one of the half mile trails."

"You must be kidding, right?" Madison asked amused as she turned her head towards him and smiled. He took the opportunity and stole a kiss from her. Without looking away, Madison replied, "what do you think of the trail that is three miles long...250 feet rise, not too bad." she smiled as Ephram just looked at her.

"I dont think I have a choice in this matter, do I? Seeing how you kidnapped me last night"

Laughing, Madison replied, "I did no such thing, Mr. Brown!"

Ephram looked towards the sky, "do we happen to know the weather for today? I mean, the sun is rather bright and hot."

"It normally is, Ephram, it normally is" she couldnt help but be sarcastic before she kissed him again then pulled on his hand to get him started, "this is absolutely amazing!" she cried as she looked around at the beautiful landscape, "I'm so glad we did this!"

What they didnt realize was that it was supposed to get very humid by noon, and it was already 10:30am, but as the weatherman predicted, there would be some afternoon rain showers.

As they were climbing steadily up the path of the trail they picked, it started getting a bit warmer than either of the two had planned, and it wasnt helping matters since Ephram was complaining the whole time. After a while Madison decided to pull her hair back in a ponytail and roll up the sleeves of her shirt. She even went as far as rolling up her shirt so her stomach could get some air. Ephram laughed at this, "you really should put your shirt down otherwise I wont be able to go any farther with you lookin' all sexy!"  
"Whatever, Ephram." she chuckled as she climbed, "I'm hot, I'm glistening with sweat, even my hair is sweating, oh, and you're complaining which doesnt help the matters."

There was a big boulder just ahead of them so Ephram jogged up ahead to check it out. He couldnt help but stare at Madison as she made her way up the path, "what are you looking at?" she asked almost out of breath.

"How hot you are" just then he couldnt help but grab her and pull her behind the huge boulder where he pinned her against it and kissed her passionately. When he pulled away, Madison was speechless, she definitely wasnt expecting this, so Ephram said, "I cant stop looking at you because you are incredibly beautiful."  
"You must be joking, right!" she laughed, but then Ephram muffled her laughter with another kiss. Then he started giving little kisses, down her neck then on her collarbone, all the while his hand rubbing her back gently. Madison was in ecstacy, but had to protest since they were in a public place in broad daylight where somebody could walk by any minute. She breathlessly said, "we can't do this...oh, my god." Ephram kissed her again, this time even more deeply than the first time. Madison combed her fingers through his hair, wanting him, but at the same time trying to stop herself.

"Stop..." she said breathlessly as her eyes were closed, "stop before I lose my will to protest, Ephram and I give in."

Ephram paused and smiled at her, "we wouldnt want that, now would we" and he leaned in and kissed her slowly, this time even more sensual than the last kisses. He stopped and just stood there with his forehead against hers, "you're right, this is fun"

Just as they pulled away from each other and were heading back onto the trail, a group of seven people came walking by. Ephram couldnt help but smirk as he saw in the corner of his eye, Madison placing her hand on her forehead.  
When the people were out of sight, the two decided to walk the trail again. Madison smacked Ephram's butt as she made her way in front of him, "you're not so bad yourself hot-stuff"

"I can take off my shirt if it will help you get through the day" he joked

"Now see, I wouldn't mind" she laughed, "but the rest of the people here would because you're just so white, you might blind 'em."

"That's not true!" laughed Ephram as he jogged to catch up to her. He put his arm around her and the two walked the rest of the path enjoying each other's company, laughing and joking with each other.

After they got a bite to eat for lunch they headed back to the hotel where Madison decided to take a shower before the two headed back to reality. While she was in the shower, Ephram couldnt help but think how great his life was. He could walk without getting tired or having a leg give out like it used to, and he has the love of his life in the next room. Granted his ex-girlfriend Kay was still in a coma from that drug overdose, but he realized there was nothing he could do so he just went on with his life.

Several minutes later Madison came out of the shower all fresh and clean. Ephram couldnt help but walk up to her and take her in his arms and kiss her sweetly. Her wet hair dripping on the tank top she was wearing. When he pulled away from the kiss, she asked with a smile, "what was that for?"  
"Just for putting up with me" he smiled.

The two finally set off to head back home just as it started to rain. They had a really good day and nothing could bring them down.


End file.
